How to fix a rust hole in a bathtub?

[Mal1974]

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows how to fix a rust hole in a bathtub please?  Any products that you can buy to fix problem? Thanks for your help

[Jason]

Hi @Mal1974,

Welcome to Workshop. We're really happy you could join us and are confident that our ever-helpful community members can assist with this problem and many others to come in future. Feel free to post whenever you need a hand or have something to share. You are also very welcome to contact me if you ever need help getting the most from the site or have any feedback about how we can improve Workshop for you.

Could we trouble you for a photo of the rust hole? It might help members provide more specific advice to solve your problem.

Let me also tag @ProjectPete who has renovated some bathrooms recently to see if he has tackled a similar problem before. 

Thanks,

Jason

[ProjectPete]

Thanks for the tag @Jason although it's not something I've done before - just removed old bath and installed new.

@Mal1974 I would think an epoxy resin and hardener would do the job; clean the area, mix the epoxy/hardener and fill the area, then sand and coat. Shouldn't be a tough job. Sorry I haven't been too helpful this time round.

[Thermoglaze]

Hi Mal,

In my experience a rust hole  is always in a Pressed Metal Bath.

Usually around the waste and sometimes it happens when the bath has been chipped and not repaired and water causes it to eventually rust through.

Pressed Metal Baths are quite thin.

Once this occurs you have a couple of longterm options.

One is to use a company that puts an Acrylic Bath Liner over the old bath.

Inner Bath is one company i have reccomended when we are unable to resurface a bath because of a rust hole.

The other option is to remove the bath but this is very expensive as you also have to remove tiles etc.

The third option is to fill the cavity under the bath with expanding foam until it comes out the rusthole.

You will then be able to do a short-term repair on the hole without your filler falling through the hole.

But in my experience once a Bath has a rust hole it always comes back and you really should go for one of the first two options.

Hope this helps,

[Jason]

Many thanks for joining in the discussion and sharing your experience and knowledge @Thermoglaze. I'm sure @Mal1974 and other community members will find your post very useful and informative.

We are looking forward to reading more of your posts soon. Feel free to share anytime you would like to contribute or have a burning question. 

Welcome to Workshop,

Jason